Brought me Alive
by Evening Lilacs
Summary: Ever wonder what would have happened if Anzu and Atemu had continued their date? Not the Battle City one, the first one. Ever think that maybe, just maybe, it was what really brought Atemu alive? AtemuAnzu


**Disclaimer**: Kazuki Takahashi and co. I am not. A lowly fanfiction authoress I am. Talk like Yoda I do. Seen Star Wars too many times I have. Own Yugioh and Star Wars I do not. I don't own Superman either, even though... I don't think I have to do a Superman disclaimer, because it's only a slight reference in here, but... hey, better to be on the safe side, yes? No? Come on, work with me here...

That's it, I have fallen off the edge.

Hi everyone! Y'know, I live in New England (of the UsofA, people, ya know, we're the little northeast corner with... ya know... the Pats and the Red Sox... and... John Kerry... and... some other people... oo;;;) and we just got a dumping of snow, so I'm like, sitting around on my compy, doing nothing productive... well, I kinda was, because I typed up the first chapter of yet ANOTHER AnzuAtemu ficcy today, but... you know what I mean, I was just... IMing, RPing through IM... and I was like... "I'm bored," so now... here is my attempt at a boredom-chasing one-shot.

Oh, and yes, this date they're going on, it's from the first arc of the manga, before Duelist Kingdom and all that. So no flames telling me it doesn't exist, because it DOES, darnitall!

Ahem... on with the fic, eh?

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I'll always remember that day, when Anzu and I went on our date... no, not the one you're thinking of, before Battle City. 

It was the one at the amusement park.

With the smell of cotton candy in the air.

And the warm breeze at your back.

And a friend at your side.

I loved that day.

It was the day I came alive.

Well, I was already alive, technically... I suppose you could say that it was the day that my soul, my heart, my mind, and my spirit came to match my body in the realm of the living.

After I caught that playing card bomber, the park officials re-opened the place, not wanting to lose any small amount of business they could possibly get after evacuating it because of a bomber.

She came up to me, grabbing me by the arm.

"Let's get back to our _date!_"

I remember her words so perfectly, and the twinkle in her eyes, and... the spark in my heart, the spark that has since grown to a blazing bonfire.

So, we did continue with our date.

She wanted to get lunch, and I had no objections. Do you know how hungry playing games can make you? I do, as gaming is basically my life.

I think that's why I didn't surrender our body to Yuugi's control, and let him continue on that date. All I had seen of the world was what I saw when Yuugi and I gamed.

In short, not much.

We came to a make-your-own-sandwich bar. She asked me if that looked okay, and I said that whatever she wanted to do was fine with me. And it was. She was and is the most beautiful girl I had and have ever known, and I love her.

She made a turkey sandwich for herself, and asked me what I wanted. I didn't know, really. I stuttered, as I barely understood the concept of putting food between two pieces of bread and eating it. I'd only eaten once before. It was when Mokuba Kaiba forced me to in his 'Russian Roulette' game, before Kaiba tried to kill us in his Death-T. Needless to say, I didn't remember much about that meal.

She seemed to realize this.

"Do you... want me to show you how?"

I nodded, looking up helplessly into her eyes. I found it hard not to get lost in them, and mentally slapped myself.

"Okay... how about peanut butter and fluff?"

"Fluff?" I asked. Fluff was what poor Ryou Bakura's dueling fangirls called him. Fluff was a bunny's fur. Fluff was roasting chestnuts on an open fire. Fluff?

"Yeah, this stuff." She held up a plastic spoonful of a strange, gooey, white substance. One thing was for sure, that was not what fluff was supposed to look like.

"But-" I began, but she shoved the spoon in my mouth, forcing the 'fluff' down my throat. I gagged as she covered my mouth with a firm hand, leaving my only option to swallow the fluff.

I did, and it was paradise. I shut my eyes in pleasure as the rich, creamy fluff slid pleasantly down my throat. When I had swallowed it all, I reached up and removed her hand from my mouth.

"So?"

I was speechless. It was amazing. Well, what would you expect, coming from someone who only knew the gaming side of life? Come on, give me a break.

"M... mou hitori no Yuugi, here..." She spread some of it on a piece of bread, some peanut butter on the other, and handed the sandwich to me.

"Thank you, Anzu," I thanked her. We walked off to some beach chairs by a wave pool and relaxed, eating slowly and watching the many children bob in the machine-generated waves.

"So... do you want to go on the slide?" she asked when we had each finished.

"The slide?" I asked. I hadn't the faintest idea what a slide was.

"Yeah... here, let me show you. Just... close your eyes."

I stared at her, quite dumbly, might I add.

"Look, do you trust me?" She held a hand out to me.

Did I trust her? Who was she kidding? Anzu was the first person ever to realize that i was different from Yuugi, separate. Anzu was the first to realize that my emotions were separate. Anzu was the first to realize that there even _was _a 'me.' I would trust her with my life if I was hanging on a thread from a fifty-story building.

I allowed her to lead me around through the crowds of people, around stands, benches, food bars, to the other side of the park. She put a hand over my eyes, to ensure I didn't peek. Not that I would.

I was aware that we were climbing steps of some kind, and then- she removed her hand.

"Okay, you can look now."

I looked- and couldn't see anything except a vast expanse of blue. Looking down, I saw ant-like people far below us. My stomach began to gurgle, my chest tightening in fear.

"Anzu..."

"It's our turn now. Just get on that." She pointed to a tube on the slide. I had absolutely no idea whatsoever how the thing worked. Thank Ra she understood that too.

"Here... like this." She stepped into the back circle of the double-tube, threading her legs outwards and holding onto a few small handles on the side, and I followed suit.

"Okay, hold on!" she shouted. She pushed a bit on the slide's wet floor with her feet, and we shot out of the top, flung into a dark tunnel. I shouted in surprise, clinging to the tube for dear life.

But who am I fooling? I clung to _her_. Seriously, did you expect me to trust those little handles on the tube with my life? I'd never been on a slide before, Ra darn it!

I grabbed her around the waist, twisting backwards. She gave a little squeak in surprise, then reached forward and held my arms tightly.

"A little too fast?"

I nodded, but she couldn't see in the dark tunnel, so I backed up my nod with a wimpy, "Y-yes."

"It's okay, we're almost out of the tunnel."

As she said that, we spurted out into the open-air part of the slide, twisting and turning our way through the lower portion of the ride. We didn't seem to be going as fast, and my stomach stopped doing flips.

But my mind didn't. My mind was spinning and humming, buzzing with excitement and exhilaration. Something about this girl sent things flying through my head- fantasies, wonders, love, hope-

_Wait, love? Did I just think that?_

That's what I thought, as the slide ended and our tube slowed down in a pool as the level of water evened out. She took my hand and we scrambled out as another pair of sliders barreled through the slide's exit.

"Want to do that again?"

I most certainly did not, but something made me say yes. Something within me wanted to be in this girl's dreams, wanted to be the picture of perfection to her. I wanted to be her Superman. I wanted to make her fly, and I wanted to fly with her.

So we went on the slide a few more times, then the wave pool, then the slide again, and then we found two lounge chairs and laid there, talking aimlessly as the sun began to set.

She asked me what I thought of myself. That was unexpected. I asked her what she meant. She said that I always looked so strong, so sturdy, so invincible, but she said that that day, I seemed like a different person, a different 'other Yuugi.'

Another other me.

Yes.

As you can imagine, I found myself with sudden identity problems. Seriously though, can you blame me? I was 'another other me.'

But at the same time, I trusted her. I trusted her to listen, I trusted her that she hadn't just asked that to put me on the spot. I trusted her with me.

I told her that I wasn't really sure of who I was, or how I'd come to inhabit little Yuugi's body. I knew it had something to do with the sennen puzzle, but I didn't know why.

She said that it was like that with everyone, that if I followed my heart I'd end up fine, that everything would be all right.

I told her that following my heart at that moment might not be the wisest choice, and that her theory didn't always apply.

She asked why, of course.

I told her it was because my heart was telling me to jump on top of her and smother her with my lips, something that didn't seem very pleasant. I didn't understand the concept of a kiss back then. If I had, I would not have said that.

She looked stunned for a moment, then smiled softly. She understood that I didn't understand what I'd said.

"Is... that true?"

I nodded dumbly, my mind numbed from... something. I didn't know what it was.

She laced her fingers together with mine. "You know... I actually feel the same way... it's called a 'kiss,' just so you know."

_A KISS!_

Kisses were what Yuugi thought about... he dreamed about... they were what happened in romance movies...

_HOLY CRAP! DID I JUST SAY I WANTED TO KISS ANZU?_

Yes, I did.

And she wanted vice versa.

We leaned closer together, our faces inches from each other's. I closed my eyes... but I pulled away. Something inside of me wouldn't allow it.

"Anzu..."

"Mou Hitori no Yuugi?"

"We can't... Yuugi... I can't do this..."

She looked both disappointed and sad, but nodded, accepting the inescapable truth. We would each come to know, after a few more months, that I would have to leave, and that the two of us as a 'we,' a unit of one, could never be.

And we can't.

Now we're here. My end in their world. My back is turned on them. Them, the ones that accepted me, understood me... loved me. I take a deep breath, heading towards the stone.

"Atemu!"

I glance back at her for the slightest of seconds, and leave. I'll miss them, all of them. I'll miss Yuugi, Sogoroku, Jou, Anzu, Honda, I'll miss Ryou, Otogi, Mai and Shizuka... and life itself. It's a hard decision to make, but I have to. And I'll always remember that day, that day she showed me life. So long as I remember that, I've never really lost it. After all, past and present coincide.

**The End

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